Londoner Des is the award-winning author of the definitive guide to beer in the capital, The CAMRA Guide to London's Best Beer, Pubs and Bars. As well as contributing to many other books and publications, he's an Accredited Beer Sommelier, an international beer judge and a busy host of beer tours and tutored tastings with a particular passion for brewing heritage and history.

Tim is Wine Business Lecturer at Plumpton College in East Sussex, where his teaching also includes beer and spirits. He is a member of the Association of Wine Educators and a Wine and Spirit Education Trust certified educator with extensive experience hosting wine tastings for a wide variety of audiences. Equally happy with a pint of beer as with a glass of wine, he is a member of the Campaign for Real Ale and he has led many pub walks in London, Oxford, Cambridge and Brighton where he now lives. He has a particular interest in the social and cultural aspects of alcohol production and consumption.

After 16 years as a cheesemonger in London, Chris found himself at a loose end in New York with an opportunity to try something different. He chose craft beer. He got a job in a small shop at Manhattan's Grand Central Station which boasted an exhaustive selection of beers from around the world, but also, tucked away in a corner, was a modest and often overlooked selection of craft ciders. Over time he found himself drawn more and more to this corner of the shop & discovered not only ciders from America but from further afield as well: Normandy, Herefordshire, Somerset. The gradual effect was revelatory. Several years, thousands of miles & many ciders later, he is back in the UK and championing cider (and cheese) through his new enterprise: Cork & Crown.